Forum Discussion

New Novice

1 month ago

Solved

I can't play. Pls help me :(

All screenshots are sadly in german as my game is set to... german, obviously. But I hope you can get past that. Anyways, so basiclally, after the last update there are a lot and I mean A LOT of issues with my game. Including not bing able to play, but we'll get to that. First of all no matter how many times i check my notifications, they won't go away. But whatever, it'S just a minor issue. Now the things the game sends you (Not sure what it's called in english) won't send I guess? I don't really care about them anyways but it's annoying to get that notification every time. Now to the more serious issues: Any changes I make to the settings will NOT save. No matter how many times I press save, once I close and re-open the game (wich you have to do to aply them obviously) The changes I made won't even show up in the settings menu. If they work in game I can't test because, oh yea, I can't play. If I press load / continue game I can get into the select world menu, but it shows me some code 22 and tells me my game wasn't saved. Wich is already annoying, but If I try to play anyways and just re-do everything I spent hours on that won't even wok either. The button to make sims is gone and I have no in game money anymore, wich makes it impossible to build or go into any building at all. So yea, completly unplayable. If I press "new game" it's even worse just giving me a white screen for a few seconds and then closing the game. I have tried everything. I took out mods, I checked the game files for issues, I turned my PC on and off, I've opend the game from steam, EA launcher. I have not yet unistalled and re-installed the game but I don't want to. That's like the last thing I would want to try. I have watched multiple videos on how to fix it, but nothing works. I don't know what to do anymore. Please someone help me. This update has been out for a relativley long time and NOTHING has been fixed, I can't be the only one having thse problems, right?

crashing

launching

updates

puzzlezaddict
29 days ago
Ama_LP The error code 22 is, these days at least, almost always antivirus-related. So is in-game settings not saving, and often so is the inability to start a new game. Do you have Controlled Folder Access running, and if so, does it help to disable it? You may need to repair Sims 4 (again) afterwards.

If that doesn't help, please create a new admin Windows account and try playing there. Make it local, as in, don't link it to your Microsoft account or any email address. (You can skip that step and will be asked to answer some security questions instead.) Make sure Controlled Folder Access is disabled while you're in this account before you try to play Sims 4. You won't have to reinstall it, but your saves and other user data won't be available.

6 Replies

puzzlezaddict
Hero+
1 month ago
Ama_LP This is usually related to Windows Defender's Controlled Folder Access. Please see this guide:

https://crinrict.com/blog/2019/03/windows-10-defender-controlled-folder-access.html

If you use a third-party antivirus, it could also cause the same symptoms. You can look up documentation for the AV, and please see this bug report for other user-provided information:

[PC] Controlled Folder Access blocking exe file/Error 21 or 22/Delivery Error | EA Forums - 13095477
Ama_LP
New Novice
30 days ago
Thanks, but following the guide I can't find the sims to add it. I think it's because (and sorry idk what it says on english PC's so I'm gonna use the german word) it's an "internet verknüpfung" and not just "verknüpfung" aka it uses a 3d party and is not a usual programm file i guess. I added steam and EA but that won't help so yea... On the bug report the first link (like I said) doesn't help bcuz of the file type. And the thread linked on the bug report has the same issue, but the solution made it even worse. Now I can't open thegame at all. I hate my life T_T
puzzlezaddict
Hero+
30 days ago
Ama_LP The article I linked has a German version, if it helps. You could also post screenshots of your options, and if I can't get them translated, I'll ask one of the German speakers here.
Ama_LP
New Novice
29 days ago
My game now opens again. So that's good atleast. Here are some more errors the game is giving me. The first one is when trying to lead a game / continue and the second one is what my EA launcher tells me when it crashes, after I press new game. All the attached images are my game settings in case any of those are interfiering somehow. But even if I'm afraid I can't rlly fix it because my settings still won't save.
puzzlezaddict
Hero+
29 days ago
Ama_LP The error code 22 is, these days at least, almost always antivirus-related. So is in-game settings not saving, and often so is the inability to start a new game. Do you have Controlled Folder Access running, and if so, does it help to disable it? You may need to repair Sims 4 (again) afterwards.

If that doesn't help, please create a new admin Windows account and try playing there. Make it local, as in, don't link it to your Microsoft account or any email address. (You can skip that step and will be asked to answer some security questions instead.) Make sure Controlled Folder Access is disabled while you're in this account before you try to play Sims 4. You won't have to reinstall it, but your saves and other user data won't be available.
Ama_LP
New Novice
27 days ago
Omg thank you, I'm crying it works, I'm so happy rn. istg I can NOT thank you enough ahhh 🥹🥹🥹